WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Oct. 7, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Police say a West Valley City man forced his underage girlfriend into prostitution in exchange for rent money and drugs.
Angelo Paul Sisneros, 38, was arrested and booked Thursday into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of several felony charges, including rape, aggravated human trafficking, aggravated exploitation of prostitution involving a child, and sexual exploitation of a minor.
West Valley City police and the Utah Attorney General‘s Office SECURE Strike Force began investigating Sisneros earlier this year after receiving a tip that he was involved in a sexual relationship with an underage girl, according to a probable case statement filed in 3rd District Court.
The now-17-year-old girl told police during an interview Sept. 1 she met Sisneros when she was 14 and began a romantic relationship with him at age 15, according to the affidavit. The teen said Sisneros “knew how old she was and he insisted she tell people she was 19 years old,” the statement continues.
The girl described Sisneros as “dubious” and said “he sold her dreams,” according to the probable cause statement. She also told police Sisneros “broke her down mentally” to the point where she “did not feel attractive.”
The girl also told investigators she “did not feel like she could make decisions for herself and [Sisneros] would not let her,” the statement continues.
The teen said Sisneros sent her on more than occasion to have sex with men in exchange for methamphetamine and “information to help them commit identify fraud,” the statement continues. She also was required to give half of any money she earned to Sisneros, according to the affidavit.
The girl said Sisneros “wanted her to do this in exchange for rent money,” and she “felt obligated” because the man “spent money rapidly,” the statement continues.
The girl told investigators Sisneros asked if he could post photos of her on adult websites “for purposes of engaging in commercial sexual activity,” the statement continues. After telling Sisneros “she did not want to,” he “created accounts on those sites anyway and posted images and videos of her,” according to the affidavit.
Sisneros also recorded videos of him raping and sexually assaulting the teen in November-December 2021 and “showed it to his friends,” the statement continues.
A search warrant on the man’s email address returned more than 20 explicit photos of the teen, along with five explicit videos.
The girl also told investigators her relationship with Sisneros “became toxic and violent,” according to the police statement.
She described an incident in November 2021 when Sisneros became so angry about his lost wallet that he grabbed her “by the hair and slammed her face into a wall,” then “kicked her in the stomach” while she was on the ground, the statement continues.
The girl told investigators Sisneros was “controlling and did not allow her to talk to other people,” according to the statement. The man “controlled her access to her cell phone and passwords to her accounts,” the statement continues, and on one occasion “locked her in a closet for several hours while he looked through her phone.”
The teen had been living with Sisneros in West Valley City at the time of the incidents, police said.
The teen told police Sisneros first reached out to her via Facebook Messenger in 2021 and invited her to a friend’s house, where people were doing drugs, according to the statement.
Police found evidence of a sexual relationship between Sisneros and the teen on his Facebook account, including explicit photos and messages.
Sisneros is being held without bail in Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of:
- Aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated exploitation of prostitution involving a child, one first-degree felony count and four second-degree felony counts
- Rape, a first-degree felony
- Forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony
- Distribution of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony
- Sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony
